Grace Kelly research post planned

An Irish university research post is to be set up in the name of the late Hollywood actress, Grace Kelly.

Her son, Prince Albert II of Monaco, made the announcement on a three-day state visit to Ireland with his fiancee, Charlene Wittstock.

The research fellowship will be at Trinity College, Dublin.

An international conference on Ireland during World War I will also be held in Monaco in October.

Both the fellowship and the conference were made possible because of a private donation, the prince said.

"I'm moved by this gesture of friendship which only confirms the wonderful, friendly, long-lasting historical links between Monaco and Ireland," Prince Albert said.

His visit comes 50 years after an official visit to Ireland by his late parents, Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace in 1961.

Prince Albert II of Monaco and his fiancee South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock in Dublin

Princess Grace was famous as an actress playing roles in Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder and Rear Window.

She was considered the epitome of glamour and her marriage to her prince in 1956 in Monaco was an event that attracted worldwide attention.

Grace Kelly had strong Irish roots. She was the Irish American grand daughter of an emigrant from Newport, County Mayo.

The Provost of Trinity College, Dr John Hegarty and his wife Neasa welcomed the royal couple to Trinity.

"As a young boy in Mayo in 1961 I shared the excitement of the whole county when Princess Grace and Prince Rainier came to visit the birthplace of the Kelly family," Dr Hegarty said.

"Fifty years later, I am delighted to welcome their son to Trinity College Dublin and to have a fellowship in Trinity named after Princess Grace. We hope that this connection will continue over the next 50 years, at least."